Birmingham City captain Harlee Dean has delivered an impassioned plea to supporters for unity and says Steve Cotterill and his coaching staff have been subjected to unfair stick.

Blues lost for a fourth successive league game on Saturday as relegation rivals Barnsley ran riot at St Andrew’s.

And things quickly turned sour with Cotterill given a tirade of abuse by sections of the home support and the 53-year-old needed a police escort down the tunnel at half-time and full-time.

The manager also confirmed after the match that a coke bottle had been thrown at home - but he insisted no words were exchanged directly between him and supporters behind the dugout.

Dean, who has taken over the captaincy from Michael Morrison in recent months, has called for supporters to get behind the manager, who he believes is copping the brunt of fans’ frustrations.

“All the finger pointing has got to stop, we are all in this together – everyone at the club,” Dean told BCFC.com.

“And that’s how we are going to change the outcome of this season, it won’t just be down to one person, it’s down to all of us.

“We understand the frustration of the supporters and how passionate they are. The backing they have given us this season has been amazing.

“But I do think the stick the gaffer and the coaching staff are getting at the moment is not fair and doesn’t help anyone.

“Ultimately, it’s us players who go out there on the pitch who should take the flak.

“The gaffer and the coaching staff prepare us for every game, we know what to expect, what we need to do and we have got the ability, the technical ability, and we’re fit enough now.

“But at the moment we have not been producing and it’s massively frustrating.

“We have been conceding soft goals, and when we have created chances we’ve not been able to take them, which obviously makes a massive difference.

“That does affect confidence and although we are going out there and we are tactically aware, we are working hard and putting it in, we just seem to blow it all.

“We know it is not good enough at present but, look, we got off the bottom before and we can move up the table again. Nobody is not trying, nobody isn’t hurting and believe me, none of us wants this club or the supporters to suffer the worst case imaginable.

Read More

“I think we have been disrupted by injuries and suspensions. We had a settled side and got into a rhythm. David Davis and Maikel Kieftenbeld have been big misses and Jonathan Grounds, I think the impact of his injury has gone under the radar.

“We know, though, that regardless we have to show what’s required to come through this tough spell, like we did before.

“As players it’s not good enough at present but we are fully behind the gaffer, the coaching staff and the people who work around us and help us on a daily basis.

“The only ones ultimately who can produce are those of us on the pitch and that’s what we have to start doing again.

“It’s not nice, in any walk of life, when you see and hear abuse directed at people. And I think the gaffer has deliberately stood up for us for a while and taken it all to help with our confidence and the pressure.

“Ultimately we all want the same thing – for us to be successful – and there’s more chance of that when everyone is pulling the same way.

Read More

“I know it’s not been great here for the last couple of years and it might take a while turn things properly round. But everyone is working extremely hard and we will all try to work even harder, apply ourselves even more, to make sure we come through this.

“I get that supporters don’t want to hear words but see results and that’s what we will try to give them. But I also do think it’s important to put this out there to let them know our feelings as well.”